The Night Sweeper: A Zombie Conspiracy Novel (The Sweeper Chronicles Book 1) (16 page)

Cray

Personally, I think Avery Johnson is the biggest bonehead I’ve ever met, but that doesn’t mean he’s stupid. And if what he says is true, he’s at least smart enough to pull off being a double agent, which I’m sure would have its pitfalls. But I wonder if he’s truly in with the people he represents, or if he’s just a mercenary for hire. Either way, he caved to my bluff much more easily than I expected, even though I’m fully aware that he’s still being very cautious and not altogether trusting. Perhaps I underestimated him before, but he is still definitely underestimating me, and frankly, I’m pretty sick of seeing his gloating face.

Part of what I told him is true. This place is wired to my presence, and thanks to that little rundown in there, I know exactly what it does and that I can also control it.

The idea was to get Johnson and his junkies back into the large holding room with all the cages we passed through before, the same one we’ve just walked into again. Damian Harbin filled this whole bunker with fail safes, but they’re more extensive in this room. Ilana was right. Dear old dad kept the animal experiments here and released them onto the island’s surface via the lift in the center of the room, but by their nature, the animals were violent and unpredictable. More safety precautions were kept here than anywhere else in the rest of the facility.

You would think Harbin would have kept some extra security measures in the computer room, but I guess for all his genius, he was a little too trusting of the biometric access measures he installed at the door. I can only hope and pray everything I need is still in working order, but so far, this facility hasn’t disappointed.

I stop suddenly, near the center of the room. Johnson, who’s been walking several feet to my side, comes to a stop, as well as the others in front of and behind me. Before Johnson or anyone else can speak, I say, “I’m sorry A.J., there is one thing I forgot to mention.”

He’s instantly on guard, but most of the soldiers are way too relaxed. Johnson has good instincts, I’ll give him that much. His gun is still trained on me, but I throw up a cautioning hand, a farce, to keep him off balance a moment longer.

“Easy bro,” I say, “I just need to take care of something.”

“Take care of what, you fool?” he spits through clenched teeth.

I stare at him. This had better work.

“Just this. Protocol Gamma-Alpha-Zulu. Unauthorized entry. Please target all human males not bearing my genetic signature.”

Several things happen in rapid succession. The female computerized voice chimes a nonchalant “verified” at the same instant multiple hidden panels in the walls fly open revealing automatic weapons that take down three of the five soldiers before they even know what hit them. The other two scramble stupidly for a target and manage to survive for a couple of seconds before being dropped as well.

The only one who does anything intelligent is Johnson. The words are barely out of my mouth before he’s tackling me to the ground, the barrel of his pistol jammed to my temple. He has a death grip on my throat and rolls me on top of himself, my body shielding his. Initially Ilana and Mira both dive for cover, but realizing they’re not targets, they stand and face us from behind parts of wreckage scattered in the room.

The computerized voice drones, “Unable to engage remaining target without possible harm to Alex Harbin.”

Mira says, “Cray!?”

Scenarios flash through my mind at light speed. “It looks like we’re at an impasse, Johnson,” I say. “If you kill me, the system will note it and shoot through me to get to you. If you let me go, the system will kill you. Either way, you’re a dead man, unless I call it off. Let the girls go, and I will. You have my word.”

Johnson lets out a string of profanity and tells me what I can do with my “word”, but gives his assent after considering his pitiful options. “Mira, Ilana, get on the lift,” I say.

“I’m not leaving you!” Mira says, a panicked look in her eyes.

“Yes you are. It’s the only way and you know it.” Mira will already know the truth. Johnson has just been put in a desperate situation, and if Mira or Ilana makes a move to rescue me, he’ll pull that trigger. Like I told him, he’s dead anyway.

It’s Ilana that speaks up. “He’s right, Mira. We must do what he says.”

She shakes her head, unwilling to accept what she already knows. Her temples work feverishly as she grinds her teeth.

“I’ll be okay,” I say, trying to encourage her.

She still doesn’t move, and Ilana grabs her arm and almost drags her to the lift.

She moves onto it, her eyes burning a hole in Johnson, her fists clenched, her knuckles turning white, and steps to where Ilana already waits. As soon as they’re both on, I say, “Lift protocol, seven-zero-one,” and the lift begins to rise swiftly to the surface, its rusty mechanisms grinding in protest. In a few moments, they’re out of sight.

“What now, hero?” Johnson growls.

“We leave.” Addressing the computer, I say, “System wide override. Do not target remaining human male. We will leave the facility. Once we are clear, auto self-destruct, and information wipe, access authorization zero-halo-halo. If I come to physical harm before exiting the facility, eliminate other human male immediately without regards to my safety.”

“Aren’t you just the clever one?” Johnson says.

For Mira's and Ilana’s sakes, I can only hope so.

Mira

We emerge into a large cave, the lift making a locking sound under us as it climbs through the opening and settles to a stop. The cave is dark and mossy, and thick webs drape us as we rise. I swipe them from my face and hair and try not to think about the fact that what made them could still be hanging over my head. The darkness is palpable, but faint moonlight illuminates the cave mouth about forty yards to the right. I start to say something, but Ilana places a hand on my arm and shushes me. She leans in close and whispers in my ear.

“We have to be very careful now. We are in the jungle at night, and there are plenty of things out there we don’t want to meet.”

“No,” I say. “I have to get back down there. He needs me.”

“No.” She cuts me off. “If he can control that place like he did, I'm sure he will make it where you can't get back down. Don't dishonor his sacrifice. We need to get to safety, then we can figure out how to help him.”

I want to scream, to punch her, to lash out, but I know she's right and I grind my teeth in frustration. I force myself to bite back my emotions.

Ilana waves a hand motioning me forward, the gesture barely visible.

My eyes are adjusting to the darkness, now, as Ilana moves cautiously towards the mouth of the cave and beckons me to do the same. I don’t know what other surprises this jungle holds, but her fear is like a virus and I’m catching it. Every sound seems amplified, every shadow a lurking, ravenous beast ready to pounce. I certainly don’t want to meet up with another tiger, and my mind runs wild with all of the freakish possibilities of things Damian Harbin could have created with his sick experiments.

After a couple of minutes of creeping along, we reach the mouth of the cave and crouch near the opening. The night is warm, but nowhere near as suffocating as the jungle during the day. Still, sweat is already running down my neck, my clothes starting to stick to my skin.

Ilana scans the jungle with eyes accustomed to the terrain while her body remains as still as stone. “I think we’re okay for now,” she says after a tense minute, “but there are things here that can hunt with stealth even I can’t always pick up on.”

“Do you know where we are?”

“No,” she says, “but I can tell by the stars the direction we need to go.”

“Which is?”

“North. To my home. It’s the safest place to be at night.”

My thoughts turn again to Cray, and I swallow the worry I feel sitting in my stomach like an anvil. I need to be focused on the task at hand, and that means getting to safety so we can regroup.

Ilana nods at me and whispers, “Ready?”

“Can’t wait,” I quip. “Lead the way.”

She takes off into the jungle at a quick jog, her feet making almost no sound on the damp jungle floor. I fall in behind her, ducking branches, dodging trees. It takes me a few seconds to realize that her jog is much faster than a normal person’s. In fact, she’s moving like me, unnaturally fast. She throws a glance over her shoulder to make sure I’m still with her and continues on.

We run for several minutes before she pulls up suddenly, her eyes closed, ears straining to hear. I try to do the same, but can’t hear anything out of the ordinary. Just quiet. Actually, it’s eerily quiet. There should be small noises – animal noises, rodents, birds. Instead there’s only the whisper of the wind caressing the leaves of the trees overhead, the faint smell of earth and bark filling the air.

There are only a couple of things I can think of that would cause the smaller animals to go silent. Storms could be one, but through the canopy overhead, I can see a clear, beautiful night sky. The other realization gives me a sick feeling. Predators!

Ilana looks at me, her face stricken, but determination set in her features. “We have to move as fast as possible now. We’re being hunted.”

That’s what I was afraid of
, I think.

“If I’ve got my bearings right,” she says, “we’ve got about a mile to go before we reach safety. Don’t fall behind,” she says looking at me pointedly, and without further ado, takes off into the night.

I take off after her, and this time, she’s not holding back. She cruises through the jungle with blinding speed. In a flat run with no obstructions, I could keep up easily enough, but due to the unfamiliar surroundings and terrain, it’s all I can do not to fall behind. She leapfrogs fallen trees, and dashes through thick underbrush, barely losing any speed at all, and I do the same, limbs and thorns tearing at my clothes and skin.

I feel a warm trickle of blood on my leg, and realize I’ve reopened the bullet wound. As if things weren’t bad enough, now I’m going to put any predators on the scent of my blood. Just great!

Ilana suddenly yells out, startling me in the quietness of the night. “We have to move into the trees!”

I want to shush her, but I realize there’s no reason to keep quiet. Whatever is tracking us already knows we’re here. It’s only a few moments before I start hearing the padding of paws, hooves, or whatever, through the jungle, closing in on us from behind and either side. Yeah, they definitely know we’re here!

As fast as a lightning strike, Ilana springs into a tree, grabbing a branch about twelve feet up, and begins swinging through the limbs, stopping to look back down at me.

“Mira, jump!”

Instinctively, I leap as high as I can, my hands barely finding purchase on a branch about fifteen feet off of the ground at the same time a snarling blur explodes from the bushes beside me. It lunges for my legs, missing by inches, as I sail into the sky. Gripping the branch with all of my strength, I use the forward momentum to swing my body up and onto it, but the creature isn’t giving up and jumps again, swiping a massive set of claws at me. I scramble higher into the tree, trying to make sense of the bizarre thing below me as it’s joined by several others like itself.

They look like something out of a nightmare, half animal, half demon. Thick blackish-gray fur covers their large bodies. They look sort of like a cross between a jungle cat and a wolf, but even that description doesn’t fit them quite right.

Just when I think I’m safe, they start clawing at the tree trunk, two of them pulling themselves into the tree in pursuit of me.

“Go, go, go!” Ilana yells. I turn away from the ascending creatures below as she begins sailing from tree to tree. I struggle to do the same. She moves with incredible grace, navigating the trees like a monkey, swinging from branch to branch, and landing on one before springing to another. It’s obvious she’s not new to this. She’s spent her life learning to get through this jungle, and her movements are beautiful in their efficiency.

I try to copy what she does, but it takes all of my concentration and strength to keep up. Below us, the pack continues to snarl and give chase, jumping up from time to time, one or more sometimes climbing into the trees after us. I’m terrified at how good they climb.

“Ilana, they’re getting closer!”

“We have to move higher,” she yells. “Their weight is too much in the smaller branches.”

I start moving higher into the treetops, praying
my
weight isn’t too much for the smaller branches.

“How much farther?” I shout to her.

“About three hundred feet,” she shouts back.

Three hundred feet of swinging through the tree tops trying to avoid a pack of ravenous wolf things. It might as well be a mile! Several of them have broken off, and move ahead of us like they’re waiting for us to fall. I keep going, ignoring the cuts on my hands that have been torn open again from gripping the tree bark so tightly.

I can see something up ahead in the tree tops, a squat square about fifty feet away now, surrounded by a type of walkway with railing made of pieces of metal that have probably been salvaged from the dome or other parts of buildings from the island. It sits like a black hulk against the night sky, a refuge, a place of safety calling out to us, although I’m not sure if it will really protect us from the things below.

I look back at them and see that they’re making their way through the trees, climbing higher and higher. My heart is pumping like mad, adrenaline giving even greater power to my muscles as I race for my life. The distance between us and the creatures is closing far too fast.

I’m about twenty feet away from the shelter now, and I can see the bottom of the structure is covered by metal and wooden spikes, like some kind of artificial porcupine. The builders knew their greatest danger was from below, and there are dozens of the spikes on the bottom, each about ten feet long.

Ilana is just disappearing underneath them, and yells for me to follow. Suddenly she moves up through the spikes near the center and disappears. I’m almost under the structure now, and I can see an opening in the darkness just large enough for a human body to fit through, but certainly not the creatures that are after us.

I move under it and find handholds leading up to a trapdoor. Ilana leans over from inside, beckoning me to herself. My hand hits the first handhold when the unthinkable happens. From my left, one of the creatures blasts from the foliage. I duck instinctively under the jaws that try to snap shut on my head, but its body crashes into me, sending us both sprawling along a large branch extending out underneath the shelter. I grasp wildly, managing to snag one arm around the branch, dangling precariously.

The animal fared better than me, and gained a more solid purchase. The branch is small for it, but it still slinks slowly towards me, less than two feet away. I look all around for a neighboring branch, but there aren’t any within a reasonable distance. Below, four more of the creatures growl and screech, leaping up at my feet. I’m running out of options fast!